WASHINGTON—More than 93 percent of the Congressional candidates backed by the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) prevailed in Tuesday’s hard-fought elections, as U.S. voters elected Donald Trump President and maintained Republican majorities in the Senate and House.

“We congratulate Donald Trump on his victory, commend Secretary Clinton on a hard-fought campaign, and thank Armenian American voters who went to the polls in record numbers to back federal, state, and local candidates who champion issues of special concern to our community,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “We look forward to getting to work right away in engaging with the Trump Administration and the incoming Congress to make progress on the full range of the Armenian American community’s public policy priorities.”

“We were greatly gratified to see such a large percentage of our Congressional endorsees win their races, including powerful advocates such as Maryland Senator Elect Chris Van Hollen, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce, Representatives Adam Schiff, Frank Pallone, David Valadao, Jackie Speier, and many others.”

On the Senate side, 7 out of 11 ANCA endorsed candidates emerged victorious, including Senior New York Senator Charles Schumer, a long-time advocate of Armenian Genocide justice, who is slated to replace the retiring Harry Reid (D-NV) as Senate Democratic Leader. Also re-elected were Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), a strong supporter of demining efforts in Nagorno Karabakh and Foreign Affairs Committee member Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-AZ), who were instrumental in Committee passage of Armenian Genocide legislation in 2014. Also winning re-election were Senators Brian Schatz (D-HI) and Michael Bennett (D-CO). Long-time Armenian American issues advocate, Maryland Congressman Chris Van Hollen (D), will succeed retiring Senator Barbara Mikulski. Illinois Senator Mark Kirk (R), a champion on U.S. assistance to Artsakh and Armenia and a lead sponsor of Armenian Genocide legislation lost a hard-fought re-election bid to challenger Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D). Other ANCA endorsed Senate candidates who were unsuccessful in their Senate election bids were Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-CA), Rep. Joe Heck (R-NV) and former Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI).

On the House side, the ANCA endorsed 122 candidates, of which only 5 were reported to have lost their election bids. Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Jackie Speier (D-CA) and David Valadao (R-CA) won their elections comfortably, while Illinois Congressman Robert Dold (R) lost re-election in a tightly contested race. Armenian Caucus Vice-Chairs Adam Schiff (D-CA) and David Trott (R-MI) won re-election handily.

The two Armenian American Members of Congress – California Democrats Anna Eshoo and Jackie Speier – each won broad support of the electorate, but Republican Danny Tarkanian, who sought election in Nevada’s third Congressional district fell short by 1%.

Among the House races in which ANCA endorsed candidates were not successful were those involving New Jersey Republican Scott Garrett, Nevada Republican Cresent Hardy, and Florida Republican John Mica.

Unprecedented Armenian American Community and Campaign Outreach:

In over 30 states and hundreds of Congressional Districts across the United States in which the ANCA endorsed candidates ran, the ANCA sent hundreds of thousands of customized e-mail messages and shared specialized social media posts with Armenian American voters. These messages featured the ANCA grade for each candidate, news about whether the ANCA has endorsed their campaign, and a listing of ANCA records and ratings for their state’s full Congressional delegation.

The ANCA’s final push built upon months of voter registration campaigns and community education and empowerment programs – led with the remarkably successful ANCA Western Region Hye Votes campaign. ANCA regional and local activists volunteered on campaigns and encouraged candidates to fill out the ANCA Candidate Questionnaire.

A key element of this effort, as in years past, has been ANCA Congressional Report Cards, a detailed review and rating of the records of each Congressional incumbent on more than a dozen individual legislative initiatives of special concern to Armenian American voters.

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A delegation of representatives from the Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region (ANCA-WR) on Monday participated and witnessed the swearing in ceremonies of the members of the California State Legislature and met with legislators to convey issues of priority for the Armenian-American constituencies.

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A delegation of representatives from the Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region (ANCA-WR) on Monday participated and witnessed the swearing in ceremonies of the members of the California State Legislature and met with legislators to convey issues of priority for the Armenian-American constituencies.